New Treasury Secretary puts Wall Street at highs – Stock Exchange

US stocks rose this Monday, taking the main indices to record territory, in a session in which investors positively welcomed the appointment of the next Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, due to the understanding that his more flexible policies could benefit Wall Street .

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.99% to 47,736.57 points and the S&P 500 gained 0.25% to 5,984.11 points, reaching new records during the session, while the Nasdaq advanced 0.27% to 19,054.84 points. The Dow Jones also reached a new record at the close of trading.

Bessent, a hedge fund manager, has a more flexible stance on trade restrictions and appears willing to negotiate the implementation of tariffs on the US’ biggest trading partners, such as China and the EU, defended by Trump.

The leader of the Key Square Group also has a different position on budgetary policy, defending the control of deficits and debt, which were not among the priorities defended by Trump in the campaign.

“Investors are seeing this appointment as one that will provide an ideal backdrop for Trump’s pro-business agenda,” Matt Maley of Miller Tabak + Co. tells Bloomberg.

Fiscal and trade policies, seen as less inflationary, also helped to consolidate optimism about the Federal Reserve’s interest rate level in the future, which could therefore be lower.

“Markets are interpreting Trump’s choice as positive for the economy, as it could direct policies towards the issues most relevant to growth as opposed to more controversial measures,” says Jan von Gerich, chief analyst at Nordea, quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

Investors will be paying close attention this week to the Fed’s preferred gauge for inflation, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which will be important in gauging whether inflation is closer to the central bank’s 2% target.

In current business, Macy’s Inc. fell 2.21%, after postponing the third quarter results, following an investigation that revealed that an employee hid more than 100 million dollars in expenses.